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Project Management Certification: Do you need it? Which One?

Project management certification, and everything around it, is the topic I get the most questions about. By far. Consequently, this is the most popular page of this website, so no wonder: it contains links sponsored by some of the world's top training companies that may also help you in your certification quest.

But some people are concerned even with the question should they get certified at all. In most cases the answer is: yes. Why, you ask? We'll address that in another article, so for now just take my word for it. Yes, you should get certified.

And what is the easiest way to become certified? In most cases the answer is: get yourself a mentor. Well, you asked for the easiest, not the cheapest, right? (Sign up here to receive my updates via email)

There is also a question of which certification should you go for, as there are several options here. In most cases the answer is: PMP or CAPM.

But first...

Do you REALLY need it?

Do you just want to learn more about project management? You don't need the project management certification then. It requires a significant amount of time, effort and money. Just go and spend it on something more meaningful and valuable to you.

If you DO need it...

On the other hand, if you strive to get a new (or a better) job as a project manager, then you have to get a certification. As simple as that. It distinguishes you from those other candidates that do not have a certification. And it brings you up to the level of those candidates that already do have a certification.

For some time now employers have been using the project management certification as an important criterion when evaluating the candidates. And more and more employers are doing it.

Several years ago, when I was a project manager in a big IT corporation, my boss asked me to help him select the best person to fill the vacant project manager position. After all the preliminary filtering that was already done by the HR department, there were about a dozen candidates left. Some of them were certified project managers, some of them were not.

I put together a simple comparison table. For each candidate, I evaluated the information provided in their CVs. If you were in my place, would you use their certification level as one of the criteria?

I sure did, and I can tell you, it was a relatively highly-valued criterion as well. Other criteria included the candidate's industry experience, project management experience, experience in projects similar to those we were delivering, formal education, and similar.

At the end I filtered the top three candidates according to all the criteria, and reported it to my boss, together with the criteria and my detailed evaluation. He then invited those three to come to an interview.

All three candidates were certified, by the way. None of those without the certification even made it to the interview.

I know, it's anecdotal evidence, but it's a common scenario. With all other criteria being equal, certified candidates have the advantage. Period.

But there are so many project management certifications!

On the point of selecting the right project management certification to go for, this is a topic that occasionally spurs debates and discussions. I don't have any hard data to support this (not yet, anyway), but PMI's (Project Management Institute) most popular credential PMP (Project Management Professional) seems to give the best return of investment:

the exam is standardized (it is exactly the same anywhere in the world), and

the exam is objective (executed and evaluated by third party -- testing specialist company Prometric, upon strictly defined objective criteria, and NOT upon subjective opinions of people sitting in accreditation committees).

Please note that I am probably being very biased here because of my heavy involvement with PMI, but these points still remain valid and true.

PMI also issues other certifications:

CAPM (Certified Associate in Project Management),

PgMP (Program Management Professional),

PfMP (Portfolio Management Professional),

PMI-SP (PMI Scheduling Professional),

PMI-RMP (PMI Risk Management Professional),

PMI-ACP (PMI Agile Certified Practitioner),

PMI-PBA (PMI Professional in Business Analysis), and

OPM3 Professional Certification

But they are not nearly as popular as PMP.

Other organizations, like IPMA (International Project Management Association) or UK Government (PRINCE2), also issue project management certificates. However, I am not familiar enough with those and they seem to be somewhat less recognized by the worldwide market anyway.

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Read Other Comments on The Best Project Management Certification

Click on the links below to see some great comments about the best project management certifications. They were all written by other visitors to this page.

CAPM?I have my BA in business administration but a lot of jobs require project management experience. Since I don't have any I am considering getting a PM certificate. …

Am I Eligible?I am interviewing for a Project Manager position and I have a BS in Business as well as I worked as a Regional and General Manager in the Recreation and …

Difference between PMP & PRINCE2 This article also provides a good overview of the differences in PMP & PRINCE2 and helps you see which certification is the best for you: http://prince2.wiki/PRINCE2_vs_ …

While I’m writing this, the ferry that takes me from Split to the Hvar island rocks from one side to the other much more than I’ve ever experienced. But I am writing about something completely differe…

So last week I traveled to Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. I was there to deliver a short 1-day project management course to participants of the GEF ECW (Global Environment Facility — Extended Cons…